Law of Space

To eat the forbidden fruit or not. Klein was in a pickle, and the fruit was not a solution to it. He would be facing trouble, no matter whether he took the fruit or not. So why not just eat it?

He would take care of tomorrow's problem tomorrow.

Klein was ready to devour the fruit just then, but Emir stopped him.

"Hold your horses, Brother," Emir said, clutching his hand. "We are already losing sunlight. You might want to eat it later, after we locate some place safe."

Klein guessed there was no arguing with that and stored the fruit away in his pocket. It would have been safer in his Organic Dimension space, but he was still keeping it a secret from suspicious people.

So they crept from the spot at a relatively faster pace than the other group. They even ignored the prospect of excessive hunting for a smoother journey. The elf princess, Siona, remained frosty the whole time, only opening her lips when needed, while the rest of the time her glare was enough to keep the two men busy.

Klein was at least glad to find her grievance towards Emir was far superior to his. The frosty glares proved that already. But he still felt at a loss, unable to converse with her.

The way Emir put it, it would seem like he would be working under her for some time, and there was something he was missing from the conversation. No point in being worried about that for now.

The eerie darkness covered the wilderness sooner rather than later, but they still moved for about an hour until they came across a partly secure vantage point. Unlike the bigger group, these two weren't moving with tents and other necessary equipment for camping. Hell, they didn't even have a blanket to ward off the chill of the night—not that either of them looked discomforted.

While Siona lit a fire, Emir gave him the greenlight for eating the Dao fruit.

Klein secured himself under a tree, sitting cross-legged, the vibrant fruit in his hand.

"Is there anything I need to be careful about?" he asked.

Emir tilted his head in consideration. "Nothing out of the ordinary. Leave your safety to us. You can fully immerse yourself in the Dao. Oh, don't try to save any part of the fruit, either."

Klein nodded and set his mind. After a minute of anticipation, he bit into the delectable-looking fruit. Immediately, a sweet taste took over his taste buds, as the fruit literally melted on his tongue.

He closed his eyes and concentrated on the upheaval of energy building up inside him. With a thought, he let himself be lost in the torrential power of the laws of the universe. That led to a vision very similar to a feverish dream, but on a grander scale.

Klein was in an oppressive expanse of spatial waves. It was endless, with barely any source of light, making him feel like he was merely a speck of dust. No matter where he gazed, he was met with the oppressive spatial expansion. His consciousness moved through the endless expanse, as though figuring out the grand scheme of the firmament.

He didn't know what else to expect, but soon other senses—such as the coldness creeping into his skin—began to stir, even though he was not physically present. The spatial tears surrounded him from all directions, as though trying to tear through his body. Yet all he felt was the uneasiness of the cold, chilling his heart and the blood running through his veins.

Now Klein hadn't yet comprehended any principles related to dimension magic, but this felt very close to it. Perhaps if he kept at it, it wouldn't be long before he could teleport himself out of all the troubles.

The spatial tears crept into his skin, as the dark sphere in his core began to churn, twisting the tears into the dominion of the dimensional power within itself.

Klein's attention split in two directions. One remained in the oppressive expanse of darkness, while the other spread through the physical world, providing very acute ideas of where he was and where everything else was.

Even with his eyes closed, he could sense the other two sitting near him, their attention glued to him. They didn't seem to notice anything amiss. Klein forced his senses further out, wondering how far he could push.

A hundred metres in one direction, and Klein felt like he could still push for more. He couldn't tell the exact distance, but as far as his calculations went, he managed to spread his strange sense a couple of hundred metres, and then some more, before an impaling pain struck his mind.

It eased soon, as the surge of power spread out from the fruit as well as from the dark sphere.

Klein was relieved inwardly, but his relief didn't last long, as through his strange sense he felt something slithering on the grass. And it wasn't small. It seemed to be a great serpent, several metres in girth and over twenty metres in length, an oppressive aura of power radiating from it.

His eyebrows twitched, finally showing signs of waking from the reverie. Thankfully, the elves were quick to notice whatever was coming for them.

Both Siona and Emir stood up, the silver-haired maiden ready with her bow and arrow, while Emir, in one of his rare moments of seriousness, brandished his sword.

Siona shot a couple of quick arrows in bursts of light before standing protectively before his meditative figure.

The snake abandoned all pretence of a sneak attack and stood erect, towering over them, its hiss chilling their blood. Emir wasted no time and shot at it, his blade glowing with a faint dark light.

Contrary to his worry, the elves handled themselves well, even if they were unable to kill the giant serpent. Thankfully, they put his safety first, and decided to withdraw instead of fighting the snake. 

Klein was relieved and went back to his comprehension. 

... 

[Congratulations! You have comprehended the Law of Space (Early)] 

[Skill unlocked! Spatial Sight (F)]